Happy 25th Birthday to Tuff Turf Molebusters! January 24, 1994 was the day Jim Zylstra incorporated Tuff Turf. In 2000, Tuff Turf puchased a mole trapping company named Molebusters and officially became Tuff Turf Molebusters. Jim had the unique idea to put a mole on the top of his truck in 2005. By the end of 2006, most of trucks were topped with moles. The bright green and orange color scheme came about in 2009 along with an updated logo featuring Digger the mole. Tuff Turf has continued to grow and in 2018 moved to the heart of Byron Center. Tuff Turf is proud to be celebrating 25 years in business!

A BIG thank you to all who contributed to our first ever toy drive. Tuff Turf Molebusters collected new toys for a wonderful local organization named Christmas4Fosters who distributes them to children awaiting placement in a foster home so they can receive a gift at Christmas. Merry Christmas!

Congratulations to Tracy Honderd for winning this month’s Facebook drawing for a free service. Tracy has won a Deer Repellent Application. Each month we give away a free service to one of our Facebook likes. Want a chance to win a free service? Just LIKE our Facebook page. No purchase is necessary, no strings attached, no fine print except that the winner must live in our service area of West Michigan and the Detroit suburbs. Congrats Tracy! http://www.tuffturfmolebusters.com/animal-control/deer/

Congratulations to Susan Harkema for winning this month’s Facebook drawing for a free service. Susan has won a Vole Repellent treatment in the foundational landscape beds around her house. Each month we give away a free service to one of our Facebook likes. Want a chance to win a free service? Just LIKE our Facebook page. No purchase is necessary, no strings attached, no fine print except that the winner must live in our service area of West Michigan and the Detroit suburbs. Congrats Susan! http://www.tuffturfmolebusters.com/animal-control/voles/

Congratulations to Michael Tappy! Michael is this month’s winner in a random drawing for a free service. He have won a FREE mosquito misting which will allow his family to enjoy mosquito free evenings in their backyard.

Congratulations to Melissa Endline! Melissa is this month’s winner in a random Facebook drawing for a free service. She won a FREE mosquito misting which will allow her family to enjoy mosquito free evenings in their backyard.

The following article was posted by Kevin Frank of Michigan State University Extension on 7/11/18.

The lack of significant rainfall across many areas of Michigan combined with high temperatures has resulted in turfgrass stress. Lawns that were soaking wet throughout much of April and early May have now turned brown. Many homeowners choose not to irrigate their lawn and, once the lawn starts to turn brown and rainfall doesn’t return, the concern and questions arise as to whether or not the lawn might die.

The vast majority of lawns in Michigan are primarily composed of Kentucky bluegrass. Typically there is no danger that the lawn is going to die unless water is lacking for six to eight weeks in combination with high temperatures. However, there are no solid day estimates without water for predicting whether the turf will die as many other factors are involved such as high temperatures and traffic. Even if you don’t regularly water your lawn, it might be a good idea to give the turf a little water if it hasn’t received any water for a month. Apply about 0.5 to 1 inch of water just to make sure the lawn makes it through this dry period. The goal of this irrigation is not to turn it green but just to prevent the turf from completely desiccating (severe drying out) and possibly dying. If the weather pattern remains dry I would continue to irrigate at least once every three to four weeks at a minimum.

Here are some other helpful tips for managing turf during hot and dry weather.

Don’t worry about trying to control weeds right now in drought stressed turf. Just like the turf, many of these weeds are slowing down their growth and trying to control them now would be more difficult, besides they might be the only green color in the turf.

Heat tracks are becoming common on both home lawns and golf courses. Anytime you put traffic from a cart, mower, or spreader on turf that is nearing the wilting point or has already wilted, you will likely see a track in the following days or week. For those who have irrigated and still have some green turf, avoid mowing during the heat of the afternoon. Mow during the cooler times of the day, early morning or in the evening after dinner. Also, maintain the highest mowing height possible. Don’t think that by mowing lower you’ll help the turf by reducing the amount of leaf area the roots have to support. Remember if the turf doesn’t have any leaves it can’t harvest light for photosynthesis and the result is that more energy will be spent to produce new leaf tissue. Mow high and mow in the coolest part of the day.

If you have an irrigation system make sure to watch the heads to make sure everything is firing on all cylinders. When conditions get dry, gaps in coverage become obvious and green and brown circles indicative of poor irrigation coverage become obvious.

Gaps in irrigation coverage are very obvious this year due to a lack of rainfall.

Soil differences across an area can result in visual differences in turfgrass very similar to those seen with poorly functioning irrigation systems. Although we hope or think we have a very uniform soil type to grow our turf, in reality soil properties can vary drastically, even across a home lawn.